By Pete Williams and Carrie Dann, NBC News
After failing to secure a spot in Virginia's presidential primary, the presidential campaign of Gov. Rick Perry on Tuesday filed a federal court challenge to the state's stringent ballot access rules.

Perry was one of several candidates, including Newt Gingrich, who failed to gather 10,000 individual voters' signatures by Friday's deadline.

"We believe that the Virginia provisions unconstitutionally restrict the rights of candidates and voters by severely restricting access to the ballot, and we hope to have those provisions overturned or modified to provide greater ballot access to Virginia voters and the candidates seeking to earn their support," said Perry communications director Ray Sullivan in a statement.

Perry's lawsuit challenges the constitutionality of a state law that says those who circulate petitions to get a candidate on the ballot must be eligible, or registered, to vote in the state. Perry claims that requirement violates his freedom of speech and association.

Just a quick thought - why do Right Wing Christians want to go to heaven/live in the Kingdom of God? Really, think about it - these people rail endlessly against the 'evils' (as they selfishly perceive them) of socialism, they claim that the Bible supports their vision of 'God helps he who helps himself' even though it absolutely doesn't.

Jesus, as portrayed in the texts of the New Testament, is profoundly, fundamentally, socialist. He makes the point again and again, as in this passage from Matthew 25 -

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So what are the Right Wingers hoping to find when they get to their heaven? Why do they want to go at all if they find socialism so offensive? Seems to me that the selfishness of their version of Hell would probably suit them better!